Mysteries of the Great Lakes Contains 2,900 cu mi (12,100 cu km) of water – the equivalent of 3 quadrillion (3,000,000,000,000,000) gallons. Is large enough to have room for every man, woman, and child on Earth to spread out a 12’ x 12’ picnic blanket on its surface if entirely frozen (which has happened only twice in recorded history). Is the final resting place for 350 ship wrecks. Lake Michigan Is the only Great Lake that is located entirely within the United States. Is bounded, from west to east, by the U.S. states of Wisconsin , Illinois , Indiana , and Michigan . Is the largest freshwater lake in the US, and the largest lake entirely within one country by surface area, and the fifth largest lake in the world.

Has a surface area of 22,400 square miles (58,016 km) Is 307 miles (494 km) long by 118 miles (190 km) wide with a shoreline 1,640 miles (2,633 km) long. Has an average depth of 279 feet (85 m), while its greatest depth is 923 feet (281 m). Contains a volume of 1,180 cubic miles (4,918 cubic km) of water. Provides drinking water for the 1.7 million residents of Chicago, Illinois - the second most-populated city in the United States. Lake Huron Is the second largest of the Great Lakes. Contains the largest island in any freshwater lake on Earth - Manitoulin Island. Is bounded on the west by the state of Michigan and on the east by the province of Ontario . Has a surface area of 23,010 square miles (59,596 km) making it the third largest freshwater lake on Earth.

Contains a volume of 850 cubic miles (3,540 km), and a shoreline length of 3,827 miles (6,157 km). Is 577 feet (176 m) above sea level . Has an average depth of 195 feet (59 m), while the maximum depth is 750 feet (229 m). Is 206 miles (332 km) in length and 183 miles (245 km) in breadth. Lake Erie Is the tenth largest lake on Earth and is the fourth largest by surface area , the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes Is bounded on the north by Ontario , on the south by the U.S. states of Ohio , Pennsylvania , and New York , and on the west by the state of Michigan . Has an elevation of 571 feet (174 m) above sea level. Has a surface area of 9,940 square miles (25,745 km) with a length of 241 miles (388 km) and breadth of 57 miles (92 km) at its widest points.

Is the shallowest of the Great Lakes with an average depth of 62 feet (19 m) and with a maximum depth of 210 feet (64 m). The western section of Lake Erie, comprising one-fourth of the area, is shallower with an average depth of 42 feet (13 m) and a maximum depth of 62 feet (19 m) Is home to Point Pelee National Park, which is the southernmost point of Canada's mainland. Produces more fish each year for human consumption than the other four Great Lakes combined. Lake Ontario Is bounded on the north by Ontario and on the south by Ontario's Niagara Peninsula and by New York State, U.S. Is the eastern-most and smallest in surface area (7,540 square miles, 19,529 km) of the Great Lakes Exceeds Lake Erie in volume (393 cubic miles, 1639 km ). Is the 14th largest lake in the world and has a shoreline 712 miles (1146 km) long. Has an elevation of 246 feet (75 m) above sea level.

Is 193 miles (311 km) in length, and 53 miles (85 km) in breadth The average depth of Lake Ontario is 283 feet (86 m), with a maximum depth of 802 feet (244 m). Is named for the Iroquois word “ontara” which means "lake," with “Ontario” translated as "beautiful lake.” Provides drinking water for the 2.5 million residents of Toronto, the capital city of the province of Ontario, and Canada’s most-populated city. Fresh Water Supply and Usage One in every three Canadians and one in every seven Americans rely on the Great Lakes for their freshwater In total, freshwater is estimated to contribute up to $23 billion annually to the Canadian economy, Environment Canada says.

Between 1972 and 1991, Canada's withdrawal of freshwater resources increased from 24 billion cubic metres per year to over 45 billion cubic metres per year – a rise of 80%: in the same period, the population increased only 3% Less than 3% of the water produced at a large municipal water treatment plant is used for drinking purposes; during the summer, about half of all treated water is sprayed onto lawns and gardens On average, 14% of municipal piped water is lost in pipeline leaks – up to 30% in some communities Per capita, Canadians are the planet's second-biggest water consumers, behind Americans. The average Canadian uses 335 litres per day - more than double Europeans' usage. And Canadian water use is growing (by 25 per cent over the past two decades), while other developed countries, including the U.S., have seen consumption drop.

Canada has about 9% of the world's renewable freshwater supply, compared with 18% for Brazil, 9% for China, and 8% for the United States Canada holds 20% of the world's freshwater, but has only 9% of the world's renewable freshwater supply; the rest is ''fossil water'', a legacy of the melting of large ice sheets that once covered much of Canada Approximately 60% of Canada's freshwater drains north, while 90% of its population lives within 300km of its southern border Environmental Issues The water levels of the Great Lakes are now at lows that have not been seen since the 1920s. Over the last century, the difference in water levels has ranged from nearly 4 feet for Lake Superior and between 6 and 7 feet for the other Great Lakes. To date, nearly 150 alien species, have invaded the Great Lakes, resulting in catastrophic results for the indigenous wildlife of the lakes. Over 360 chemical compounds have been identified in the Great Lakes. Caribou on the Slate Islands The weight of a female varies between 132 - 375 lb (60 and 170 kg).

Caribou are ruminants, having a four-chambered stomach. They mainly eat lichens in winter. However, they also eat the leaves of willows and birches, as well as sedges and grasses. Mating occurs from late September or October to early November. Males battle for access to females. Two males will lock each other’s antlers together and try to push each other away. Under normal circumstances, both sexes grow antlers. However on the Slate Islands, with no predators to contend with, female caribou have evolved so that they no longer grow antlers. Caribou do not compete for food sources with any other mammals on the Slate Islands, and they maintain their largest density on these islands than anywhere else on Earth. Lake Sturgeon The lake sturgeon is the largest freshwater fish in the world and is considered a living fossil because it has survived - virtually unchanged - for over 100 million years. Lake sturgeon are bottom-feeders with a partly cartilaginous skeleton and skin bearing rows of bony plates It uses its elongated, spadelike snout to stir up the sand and silt on the beds of rivers and lakes while feeding.

Barbels surrounding the mouth help it sense and manipulate food. The lake sturgeon has taste buds on and around its barbels near its rubbery, prehensile lips. It extends its lips to vacuum up soft live food, which it swallows whole due to its lack of teeth. Its diet consists of insect larvae, worms (including leeches), and small fish. Lake sturgeoncan grow to weigh an astonishing 300 pounds (135 kg), and can live to be nearly 200 years old. At one point, lake sturgeon was so plentiful that it represented 90% of the Great Lakes biomass. In the late 1800s, due to over-fishing and the destruction and pollution of their spawning beds, lake sturgeon populations in the Great Lakes crashed. Lake sturgeon will travel great distances over their lifetimes, but will always return to the streams in which they hatched to spawn. The lake sturgeon is a threatened species in many areas. Bald Eagles Bald Eagles were once common sights in the skies throughout North America – including the Great Lakes shoreline.

In the 1950s Bald Eagles all but disappeared due to the effects of the pesticide DDT, or dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. Exposure to DDT interfered with the eagles’ ability to reproduce. The Bald Eagle is a large bird, with a body length of 28–38 in (71–96 centimeters), a wingspan of 66–88 in (168–244 centimeters), and a mass of 3–6.3 kilograms (6.6–14 lb); Females are about 25 percent larger than males. The adult Bald Eagle has a brown body with a white head and tail, and bright yellow irises, taloned feet, and a hooked beak; juveniles are completely brown except for the yellow feet. Males and females are identical in plumage coloration. Its diet consists mainly of fish, but it is an opportunistic feeder. It hunts fish by swooping down and snatching the fish out of the water with its talons. It is sexually mature at four years or five years of age.

The Bald Eagle builds the largest nest of any North American bird, up to 13 ft (4 meters) deep, 8 ft (2.5 meters) wide, and 1.1 tons (1 tonne) in weight. Shipping on the Great Lakes The St. Lawrence Seaway opened in April of 1959. The Seaway extends 2,340 miles (3,700 km) from the Atlantic Ocean to the head of the Great Lakes. The Seaway includes a system of locks that lift ships up and down over three areas where barriers to shipping are encountered. The Seaway system is connected by 6 short canals with a total length of less than 60 nautical miles (111 km). There are 19 locks, filled and emptied by gravity. Ships measuring up to 740 feet in length (225 m) and 78 feet (24 metres) in the beam are routinely raised to more than 590 feet (80 metres) above sea level, as high as a 60-story building.

The ships are twice as long and half as wide as a football field and carry cargoes the equivalent of 27,500 tons (25,000 tonnes). Each lock is 766 feet (234 metres) long, 80 feet (24 m) wide and 30 feet (9 m) deep over the sill. A lock fills with approximately 24 million gallons (91 million L) of water in just 7 to 10 minutes. Getting through a lock takes about 45 minutes. Annual commerce exceeds 200 million net tons (180 million net tonnes). It is estimated that between 6,000 and 10,000 ships have sunk or been stranded on the Great Lakes since the early 1800s. The most famous shipwreck, happened on November 10, 1975 when Lake Superior claimed the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald – the last major freighter to be lost on the Lakes. The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 is the worst Great Lakes storm on record. The blizzard hit from November 7 to 10, 1913.

The storm of 1913 included hurricane-force winds, whiteout snow squalls and produced waves over 35 feet (11 m) high. The storm of 1913 affected ships on four of the five Great Lakes. More than 250 people were killed, 19 ships were destroyed and 19 others were left stranded. The storm of 1913 was the deadliest, and most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the Great Lakes. During the storm of 1913 more than 75,000 tons (68,000 tonnes) of cargo was lost, and the financial loss in vessels was nearly $5 million dollars (the equivalent of about $100 million at current value). Great Lakes GREAT LAKES All SeaWiFS images are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with Orbimage ( H Superior There are 5 Great Lakes The Great Lakes are one of the natural wonders of the world, although we may not think of them that way because they're right in our own backyard. The great peninsulas of Michigan are unique. Nowhere else is there so much freshwater and so much shoreline.

The Great Lakes have a tremendous influence on our weather, and subsequently on our forests and vegetation. They are important for shipping, a source of industrial and municipal water, fisheries, and tourism. We in Michigan usually don't think about water shortage problems, but many parts of the United States and across the world experience regular shortages of water supply or high quality water. The Great Lakes contain enough water to cover the continental United States with nearly 10 feet of water! Over 33 million people live around the Great Lakes and depend on them for water and other needs. On 5 December, 2000, a storm swept across the Great Lakes and dropped "lake effect" snow along the southern shore of Lake Superior and western shore of Lake Michigan. This image clearly shows how the big lakes can affect local weather and influence regional ecosystems. NASA Visible Earth website: All SeaWiFS images are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with Orbimage ( Water flows through the system from Lake Superior, into Lakes Huron and Michigan, then onto Lake Erie, over Niagara Falls, into Lake Ontario, and out the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic Ocean.

Along the way, watersheds gather water from many smaller drainage systems, an area of 196,520 square miles. That's over five times the area of Michigan! The Great Lakes Basin includes portions of seven states and the Province of Ontario. Click here for a profile of the five Great Lakes. Lake Superior is by far the largest lake in terms of surface area, water volume, and depth. It holds ten percent of the world's fresh water. Only Lake Baikal, in Russia, is deeper and holds more freshwater. Lake Superior is also the highest in elevation and furthest "up" the watershed. Old legends call the lake "Gitchee Gumee". This name has been used in song and verse over the years. Which lake is smallest is less clear, although most would agree Ontario is larger even if Erie "looks" larger. Ontario is deeper with three times the volume of water, but Erie has 25 percent more surface area. Erie has the greatest number of people living nearby, about 12.5 million. People have caused severe pollution problems in Lake Erie, but thanks to controls and a quicker water replacement time, the lake is recovering.

Source: Michigan State University Extension and the Michigan Sea Grant College Program, 2000. Lake Huron has many islands, over 30,000 of them! As result, it also has the most shoreline of any lake . . . almost 4,000 miles! Manitoulin Island, in Canada, is the biggest island in the world, surrounded by freshwater. And if you like confusing word play, Manitoulin Island is the largest freshwater island in the world, which has the largest freshwater lake on an island in the world. That island the largest island, in a lake, on an island, in a lake, in the world! For basin maps of each of the Great Lakes, click on the lake name: Superior , Michigan , Huron , Erie , or Ontario . Each map is based on the "Great Lakes Basin" map to the left, but highlights the basin boundaries of the lake selected. The biggest threats to Great Lakes are pollution and exotic species. The pollution problems are becoming less each year, but the threat of exotic species is increasing. Two of the most well-known exotic species are the sea lamprey and zebra mussel.

Most exotic species are introduced to the Great Lake by ships from other places in the world. Great Facts About the Five Great Lakes Great Facts About the Five Great Lakes By Kim Ann Zimmermann, Live Science Contributor | May 3, 2013 06:40pm ET MORE Credit: Stasys Eidiejus Shutterstock The Great Lakes — Superior, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Erie — make up the largest body of fresh water on Earth, accounting for one-fifth of the freshwater surface on the planet at 6 quadrillion gallons. The area of all the Great Lakes is 95,160 square miles (246,463 square kilometers). The lakes are on the U.S.-Canadian border, touching Ontario in Canada and Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York in the United States. About 34 million people in the United States and Canada live in the Great Lakes basin. More than 3,500 species of plants and animals inhabit the Great Lakes basin, including 170-plus species of fish.

Today, the Great Lakes are popular recreation spots for boating, fishing and other recreational activities and still serve as an important mode of transportation of goods, but they have not always been in their current form. About 14,000 years ago, the Great Lakes area was covered with a glacier that was more than a half-mile (1 km) thick. As the glacier melted, it slowly moved toward Canada and left behind a series of large depressions that filled with water. These formed the basic shape of the Great Lakes, and about 10,000 years ago the Great Lakes took the form that is familiar today. The Mackinac Bridge connects Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas at the straits between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Credit: lphoto Shutterstock While the area had been inhabited for a very long time before European explorers arrived, Étienne Brûlé (circa 1592-1632), an advance man for the French explorer Samuel de Champlain (circa 1567-1635), is generally credited as the first European to discover the Great Lakes.

Brûlé is believed to have reached Lake Huron around 1615, and went on to explore Lake Ontario. There are a number of rivers and tributaries connecting the Great Lakes. The Straits of Mackinac connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and there is such a steady flow of water between these two bodies that they could be considered one lake. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are connected by the Niagara River, including Niagara Falls. The St. Lawrence River connects Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which leads out to the Atlantic Ocean. The Great Lakes are dotted with more than 30,000 islands. While many of the islands are small and uninhabitable, the largest is Lake Huron’s Manitoulin Island (1,068 square miles or 2,766 square km), which is also the largest island in any inland body of water on the planet. There have been a number of shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, as storms and reefs can make navigation treacherous. The last and one of the most famous shipwrecks was that of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on Nov.

10, 1975, killing the crew of 29. Quick facts about the five Great Lakes: Lake Erie: The name was derived from erielhonan, the Iroquoian word for long tail, which describes its shape. It is the fourth largest of the Great Lakes when measured in surface area (9,910 square miles / 25,700 square km.) and the smallest by water volume (116 cubic miles / 484 cubic km). Lake Huron: Named for the Wyandot Indians, or Hurons, who lived there.Lake Huron is the second largest Great Lake by surface area (23,000 square miles / 59,600 square km) and has the longest shoreline (3,827 miles / 6,157 km), taking into account its many islands. A view of Niagara Falls (Horseshoe Falls) from the Canadian side. Lake Superior Facts SIZE, DEPTH, WATERSHED, WATER QUALITY, etc 1. Lake Superior is, by surface area, the world's largest freshwater lake. 2.

The surface area of Lake Superior (31,700 square miles or 82,170 square kilometers) is greater than the combined areas of Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. 3. Lake Superior contains as much water as all the other Great Lakes combined, even throwing in two extra Lake Eries. Its volume is second only to Russia's Lake Baikal. 4. Lake Superior contains 10% of all the earth's fresh surface water. 5. There is enough water in Lake Superior (3,000,000,000,000,000--or 3 quadrillion-- gallons) to flood all of North and South America to a depth of one foot. 6. The deepest point in Lake Superior (about 40 miles north of Munising, Michigan) is 1,300 feet (400 meters) below the surface. 7. Over 300 streams and rivers empty into Lake Superior. 8, The average elevation of Lake Superior is about 602 feet above sea level. 9.

The Lake Superior watershed region ranges in size from 160 miles inland near Wabakimi Provincial Park to only 5 miles inland from Pictured Rocks National Seashore. 10. The Lake Superior shoreline, if straightened out, could connect Duluth and the Bahama Islands. 11. The average underwater visibility of Lake Superior is 27 feet, making it easily the cleanest and clearest of the Great Lakes. Underwater visibility in places reaches 100 feet. Lake Superior has been described as "the most oligotrophic lake in the world." 12. The lake is about 350 miles (563 km) in length and 160 miles (257 km) in width. 13. In the summer, the sun sets more than 35 minutes later on the western shore of Lake Superior than at its southeastern edge. 14. Lake Superior has over 400 islands, the largest of which is Isle Royale, with a size of 207 square miles. 15. Waves of over 40 feet in height have been recorded on Lake Superior. 16.

Travel by car around Lake Superior covers a distance of about 1,300 miles. 17. The largest underwater formation in Lake Superior is the Superior Shoal, which rises from a depth of over 1,000 feet to within 20 feet of the water surface over a distance of just three miles. 18. Sudden changes in winds or barometric pressure around Lake Superior can produce seiches, a phenomena which results in water levels rising or falling as much as six feet along a coast in a short period of time. 19. Water in Lake Superior is retained, on average, 191 years. GEOLOGY, FLORA AND FAUNA, CLIMATE, etc. 1. Lake Superior is one of the earth's youngest major features, at only about 10,000 years of age--dating to the last glacial retreat. By comparison, the earth's second largest lake (by surface area, and largest by volume), Lake Baikal in Russia, is 25 million years old. 2. Fifty-eight orchid species are native to the Lake Superior basin. In North America, only Florida has more native orchid species. 3.

Lake Superior produces the greatest lake effect snows on earth. (Significant lake effect snows are a rare phenomenon, occurring--besides on the Great Lakes--only on the east shore of Hudson Bay and the west coasts of two Japanese islands.) Lake effect snows extend 20 to 30 miles inland, primarily on the Ontario shore southeast of Marathon, and from Sault Ste. Marie to the Wisconsin-Michigan border. Average annual snowfall in Michigan's Keweenaw exceeds 200 inches in places. 4. Lake Superior has been at its modern elevation for only about 2,000 years, when elevations of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron dropped, creating a rapids at Sault Ste. Marie. 5. Lake Superior has its origins in the North American Mid-Continent Rift of 1.1 to 1.2 billion years ago, which produced a huge plume of hot mantle where the present lake sits. The crust tore apart, leaving an arc-shaped scar stretching form Kansas through Minnesota, then down to Michigan. 6. Within its borders, Lake Superior has both the thickest, and nearly the thinnest, crust found anywhere in North America. 7.

When European explorers visited Lake Superior in the 1600s they reported giant sturgeons (up to nine feet in length) and pike of greater than seven feet in length. 8. The largest tributary of Lake Superior, Ontario's Nipigon River, was in the 1800s the finest brook trout water in the world. It produced the world record brook trout of 14.5 pounds. 9. Some of the world's oldest rocks, about 2.7 billion years of age, can be found on the Ontario shore of Lake Superior. 10. The average annual water temperature of Lake Superior is 40º F. It only very rarely freezes over completely, and then usually just for hours. The last complete freezing of Lake Superior occurred in 1979, although the lake was almost completely frozen over in 2014. 11. Migrating birds of prey funnel down Lake Superior's north shore in great numbers each fall. On a single day at Duluth's Hawk Ridge as many as 100,000 birds of prey might pass by. 12.

Lake Superior rests mostly on Precambrian rock at the southern edge of the Canadian shield, the largest exposure of such bedrock on the planet. 13. Sliver Islet, a Lake Superior island off Ontario's north shore, was the site for 15 years in the 1800s of the world's richest silver mine. 14. Lake Superior contains nearly 70 million diporeia (shrimplike creatures) with a total biomass greater than that of the human population in the entire Lake Superior basin. 15. Lake Superior is home to 88 species of fish. Longest Shorelines Lakes & Reservoirs - Lakelubbers Longest Shorelines Lakes & Reservoirs Show only guest editable lakes Search Results Here are the 1541 lakes we have listed - compared by Longest Shorelines. Note: For some lakes, "Longest Shorelines" is unknown or does not apply, so this comparison may show fewer lakes than you originally selected. Suggest a new lake . Page 1 of 62.

(Manitoba, Canada / Ontario, Canada / Minnesota, USA) 25,000 Spanning the border from Minnesota into the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, Lake of the Woods is an enormous body of water over 68 miles long, 59 miles wide, with 25,000 miles of shoreline - the world's longest lake shoreline. The western part of the lake is mostly open water, while the ... 10,000 Also known as: America's Dead Sea Sometimes called "America's Dead Sea," the Great Salt Lake occupies approximately 1,700 square miles of Utah's real estate. It is the second largest lake (by surface area) that is wholly contained within the USA; only Lake Michigan is larger. Great Salt Lake boasts the USA's longest lake shoreline - ... 8,500 Also known as: Saimaa Lake, Saimaa Lake District, Saimaa Lake Saimaa, in Finland's Lakeland Region, is a lake you could spend a lifetime exploring! Nearly 1700 square miles of water and over 13,500 islands make the Saimaa Lake District one of Finland's most striking water bodies.

Created by the last receding glacier, the inter-connected lake basins cover ... 5,592 Also known as: Aswah High Dam Reservoir Lake Nasser, in Egypt's Upper Region, is a modern technological marvel with ancient roots. In Egypt's extremely arid climate, the Nile and its annual floods have provided fertile sediments since before the time of recorded history. Attempts to dam the Nile have been on-going since at least the year ... (Ontario, Canada / Great Lakes / Illinois, USA / Indiana, USA / Michigan, USA / Wisconsin, USA) 5,463 Lake Michigan and Lake Huron - two of North America's Great Lakes - are contiguous and they share the same elevation of 577 feet above sea level. They are connected by the five-mile-wide Straits of Mackinac. Hydrologically, this makes these "two lakes" a single lake. Some hydrologists designate the ...

(Ontario, Canada / Great Lakes / Michigan, USA) 3,825 A glacial lake of epic proportions, Lake Huron is the second largest of the five Great Lakes by surface area, boasting 23,010 square miles and an incredible 3,825-mile shoreline. The massive lake is the third largest of the Great Lakes by water volume, containing 850 cubic miles of fresh water within ... (Eastern Siberia, Russia) 3,728 It has been said that one of the most striking things about Siberia is the scale. Just the name conjures images of vast snowy expanses, impossibly thick forests and incredibly high mountains. Its manmade features maintain the sense of scale, and with well over a million acres of water, Bratsk Reservoir ... 3,510 Also known as: Reservoir Gouin When the directions say 'turn off the paved road', you know you're on your way to Gouin Reservoir. Visitors can drive to the lake, but most opt to fly. Although leisurely driving along gravel roads through forests teeming with wildlife is attractive, most visitors are anxious to arrive at the massive ...

(Azerbaijan / Iran / Kazakhstan / Northern Caucases, Russia / Povolzhsky, Russia / Turkmenistan) 3,467 Also known as: Mazandaran Sea, Khazar Sea, Khvalyn Sea With the largest volume of any saltwater "lake" on earth, the Caspian Sea holds well over 62 billion acre-feet of saltwater. Many classify the Caspian Sea not as a lake, but as an inland sea. (There is no widely accepted definition of "lake," but most exclude bodies of saltwater.) Considered by many ... 2,800 Also known as: Cabonga Reservoir, Cabonga Lake A trip to Cabonga Reservoir in Quebec is the true definition of 'getting away from it all'. The massive reservoir covers 261 square miles, but only 187 square miles are water. Islands, peninsulas, and slivers of land between different pools within the reservoir occupy the remaining area. The entire ...

(Ontario, Canada / Great Lakes / Michigan, USA / Minnesota, USA / Wisconsin, USA) 2,726 Skipping over state and country borders, Lake Superior, the largest, deepest, coldest, cleanest, least developed, and most pristine of the Great Lakes, reigns as the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. By volume, this 31,820 square mile colossus ranks fourth - a whopping 2,900 cubic ... (Saskatchewan, Canada) 2,700 Wilderness adventures draw people to Wollaston Lake in northeastern Saskatchewan. Sparsely populated, Wollaston Lake is home to copious amounts of wildlife, birds and freshwater fishing fun. Wollaston is one of a few lakes in Saskatchewan offering anglers the chance to reel in pike, lake trout, walleye ...

(Kentucky, USA / Tennessee, USA) 2,380 Kentucky Lake is the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi when measured by surface acres at "full pond," the normal water level: 184 miles long, 2 miles wide, 160,309 surface acres, and 2,380 miles of shoreline! The lake stretches south across the western tip of Kentucky into Tennessee. Kentucky ... (North Dakota, USA / South Dakota, USA) 2,250 Lake Oahe, named after an Oahe Indian Mission roughly translates "a foundation" or "a place to stand on." Spanning 231 miles from Pierre, South Dakota, to Bismarck, North Dakota, and with a shoreline of 2,250 miles, it is no wonder Lake Oahe is the nation's largest man-made reservoir in surface acreage ...

(African Great Lakes / Nyanza, Kenya / Western, Kenya / Kagera, Tanzania / Mara, Tanzania / Mwanza, Tanzania / Uganda) 2,138 Also known as: Victoria Nyanza, Victoria Ukerewe, Victoria Nalubaale Lake Victoria -- also known as Victoria Nyanza, Ukerewe, and Nalubaale -- rakes in the superlatives: it is the largest lake on the African continent by surface area, the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. Joined by five others, Lake ... (Northwest Territories, Canada) 1,900 Great Slave Lake is the fifth-largest lake (by acreage) in North America and, following Great Bear Lake, is the second-largest in Canada. A natural lake, it is located in south-central Northwest Territories (NWT). Located just south of the Arctic Circle, Great Slave Lake is frozen about five and a half ... (Arizona, USA / Utah, USA) 1,900 Lake Powell is located in one of Southern Utah's most picturesque red-rock desert areas and in Arizona's Navajo Indian Reservation.

It is one of the USA's most scenic reservoirs. At "full pond" (normal water level) it is the second-largest man-made reservoir in the USA by volume - but drought can reduce ... (Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada) 1,756 Wild, diverse and always impressive, Smallwood Reservoir is not a place to be taken lightly. Smallwood Reservoir is not a place for leisurely lakeside strolls and gourmet candlelight dinners. The area is best described in the provincial tourism brochure, where it says this is a land for the traveler ... 1,724 Also known as: Lake Inarijarvi Lake Inari, in the Lapland area of northern Finland, is a hot fishing destination. Also called Lake Inarijarvi, the huge lake near the northern tip of Finland is well-known as an ideal fishing lake for brown trout, lake trout, grayling, Arctic char, perch and whitefish. The third-largest lake in Finland, ... (Northwest Territories, Canada) 1,690 Great Bear Lake is located in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is a natural lake, encircled by wilderness, and the largest lake completely in Canada.

Great Bear Lake is on the Arctic Circle and ice-covered eight months out of the year. With an area of over 7 million acres and more than 26 islands, ... (Great Lakes / Illinois, USA / Indiana, USA / Michigan, USA / Wisconsin, USA) 1,638 As the only Great Lake nestled completely within the boundaries of the United States, Lake Michigan is the pride and joy of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The lake boasts a huge area of 22,400 square miles, making it the largest freshwater lake (by surface area) in the world to be contained ... DEQ - Great Lakes Map DEQ To remember the Great Lakes names, remember the word "HOMES." H=Huron E=Erie S=Superior The Great Lakes contain the largest supply of fresh water on earth; 20% of the earth's total fresh water; 9,402 miles of shoreline; and 94,710 total square miles of surface area (about the size of Texas). The Great Lakes basin is a 295,200 square mile area within which all surface area drains into the Great Lakes.

It includes parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ontario and Quebec. Lake Superior "Uppermost Lake" (French); Kitchi-gummi, a Chippewa Indian translation, signifies "Great Water," or "Great Lake." A Jesuit name, "Lac Tracy," was never officially adopted. Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes by surface area and volume, and rich in natural resources. Surface Area: 31,700 mi2 / 82,100 km2 Volume: 2,934 mi3 / 12,230 km3 Length: 350 mi / 563 km Depth: 489 ft / 149 m average; 1,335 ft / 407 m maximum Shoreline Length: 2,726 miles / 4,385 km (including islands) Elevation: 600 ft / 183 m Outlet: St. Marys River to Lake Huron Retention/Replacement Time: 191 years Lake Michigan Champlain called it the Grand Lac.

It was later named "Lake of the Stinking Water" or "Lake of the Puants," after the people of other nations who occupied its shores. In 1679, the lake became known as Lac des Illinois, because it gave access to the country of the Indians of that name. Allouez called it Lac St. Joseph, by which name it was often designated by early writers. Others called it Lac Dauphine. Through the further explorations of Jolliet and Marquette, it received its final name of Michigan, Algonquian for "Great Water." Michigan is the third largest Great Lake (although Lake Huron-Michigan, at 45,300 mi2 / 117,400 km2 is technically the world's largest freshwater lake.

This is because what have traditionally been called Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are really giant lobes of a single lake connected by the five mile wide Strait of Mackinac.) Surface Area: 22,278 mi2 / 57,750 km2 Volume: 1,180 mi3 / 4,920 km3 Length: 307 mi / 494 km Depth: 279 ft / 85 m average; 925 ft / 282 m maximum Shoreline Length: 1,659 miles / 2,670 km (including islands) Elevation: 581 ft / 177 m Outlet: Straits of Mackinac to Lake Huron Retention/Replacement Time: 99 years Lake Huron Since its French discoverers knew nothing as yet of the other lakes, they called it La Mer Douce, the sweet or fresh-water sea. A Sanson map in 1656 refers to it as Karegnondi.

Huron is the second largest Great Lake (although Lake Huron-Michigan, at 45,300 mi2 / 117,400 km2 is technically the world's largest freshwater lake. This is because what have traditionally been called Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are really giant lobes of a single lake connected by the five mile wide Strait of Mackinac.) It has the longest shoreline of the Great Lakes, counting its 30,000 islands. Surface Area: 22,973 mi2 / 59,500 km2 Volume: 850 mi3 / 3,540 km3 Length: 206 mi / 331 km Depth: 194 ft / 59 m average; 748 ft / 229 m maximum Shoreline Length: 3,827 miles / 6,157 km (including islands) Elevation: 581 ft / 177 m Outlet: St.

Clair River to Lake Erie Retention/Replacement Time: 22 years Lake Erie The greater part of its southern shore was at one time occupied by the Eries, a tribe of Indians from which the lake derived its name. This name is always mentioned by the early French writers as meaning "cat"; Lac du Chat means "Lake of the Cat." Many attribute this reference to the wild cat or panther. Lake Erie is the fourth largest Great Lake and is the shallowest and warmest. Surface Area: 9,906 mi2 / 25,657 km2 Volume: 116 mi3 / 483 km3 Length: 210 mi / 338 km Depth: 62 ft / 19 m average; 210 ft / 64 m maximum Shoreline Length: 871 miles / 1,400 km (including islands) Elevation: 571 ft / 174 m Outlet: Niagara River and Welland Canal Retention/Replacement Time: 2.6 years (shortest of the Great Lakes) Lake Ontario Champlain first called it Lake St. Louis in 1632.

On a Sanson map in 1656, it remained Lac de St. Louis. In 1660, Creuxius gave it the name Lacus Ontarius. Ontara in Iroquois means "lake," and Ontario, "beautiful lake." Ontario is the smallest in surface area of the Great Lakes. EEK! - Great Lakes Map Great Lakes Facts Did you know that.... Lake Superior is 1,335 feet deep and 350 miles long. It is the largest of the Great Lakes in both surface area and volume. Lake Superior could contain all the other Great Lakes plus three more lakes the size of Lake Erie. Learn more fun facts about Lake Superior . Lake Michigan is 925 feet deep and 307 miles long. It is the third largest Great Lake and the sixth largest freshwater lake in the world. Lake Huron is 748 feet deep and 206 miles long. It is the second largest Great Lake and the fifth largest freshwater lake in the world. It has the longest shoreline of the Great Lakes if you count the shorelines of its 30,000 islands. Lake Erie is 210 feet deep and 240 miles long.

It is the fourth largest of the Great Lakes in surface area and the smallest by volume. Lake Ontario is 804 feet deep and 193 miles long. It is the smallest of the Great Lakes in surface area. It lies 325 feet below Lake Erie, at the base of Niagara Falls. . Great Lakes Facts and Figures Overview VOLUME 6 quadrillion gallons of fresh water; one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water (only the polar ice caps and Lake Baikal in Siberia contain more); 95 percent of the U.S. supply; 84 percent of the surface water supply in North America. Spread evenly across the continental U.S., the Great Lakes would submerge the country under about 9.5 feet of water. TOTAL AREA More than 94,000 square miles/244,000 square kilometres of water (larger than the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire combined, or about 23 percent of the province of Ontario).

About 295,000 square miles/767,000 square kilometres in the watershed (the area where all the rivers and streams drain into the lakes). TOTAL COASTLINE United States and Canada -- 10,900 mi/17,549 km (including connecting channels, mainland and islands). The Great Lakes shoreline is equal to almost 44 percent of the circumference of the earth, and Michigan's Great Lakes coast totals 3,288 mi/5,294 km, more coastline than any state but Alaska. References: Great Lakes Basin brochure, 1990, Michigan Sea Grant Lake Erie Facts and Figures Lake Erie is the eleventh largest lake in the world (by surface area), and the fourth largest of the Great Lakes in surface area and the smallest by volume. Ninety-five percent of Lake Erie's total inflow of water comes via the Detroit River water from all the "upper lakes" -- Superior, Michigan and Huron -- the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and numerous tributaries. The rest comes from precipitation. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes and is especially vulnerable to fluctuating water levels.

Wind setups (wind pushing the water from one end of the lake toward the other), usually from west to east, have produced large short- term differences in water levels at the eastern and western ends of the lake, the record being more than 16 ft (4.88 m). The water provided by Lake Erie for waterborne commerce, navigation, manufacturing, and power production has led to intensive industrial development along its shore, but the basin's moderate temperatures have also encouraged recreation and agriculture. Lake Erie is the warmest and most biologically productive of the Great Lakes, and the Lake Erie walleye fishery is widely considered the best in the world. Point Pelee National Park in Lake Erie is the southernmost point on Canada's mainland. References: Great Lakes Atlas , 1995, Environment Canada and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lake Erie brochure, 1990, Michigan Sea Grant LENGTH: 241 miles / 388 km BREADTH: 57 miles / 92 km AVERAGE DEPTH: 62 ft. / 19 m. MAXIMUM DEPTH: 210 ft. / 64 m.

VOLUME: 116 cubic miles / 484 cubic km. WATER SURFACE AREA: 9,910 sq. miles / 25,700 sq. km. TOTAL DRAINAGE BASIN AREA: 30,140 sq. miles / 78,000 sq. km. DRAINAGE BASIN AREA BY STATE/PROVINCE: Indiana: 1300 sq mi; 3300 sq km Michigan: 5800 sq mi; 15,100 sq km New York: 1600 sq mi; 4200 sq km Ohio: 11,700 sq mi; 30,400 sq km Ontario: 8800 sq mi; 22,800 sq km Pennsylvania: 500 sq mi; 1400 sq km SHORELINE LENGTH (including islands): 871 miles / 1,402 km. ELEVATION: 569 ft. / 173 m.

OUTLET: Niagara River and Welland Canal RETENTION/REPLACEMENT TIME: 2.6 years (shortest of the Great Lakes) NAME: The greater part of its southern shore was at one time occupied by a nation known to the Iroquois League as the "Erielhonan," or the "long-tails," a tribe of Indians from which the lake derived its name. This name is always mentioned by the early French writers as meaning "cat"; Lac du Chat means "Lake of the Cat." Many attribute this reference to the wild cat or panther. References: Great Lakes Atlas , Environment Canada and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1995

Question: Which of America's "Great Lakes" has the smallest surface area?
Answer: ONTARIO